55 killed in Lebanon blitz as foreigners flee (500,000 displaced)

[IndianaGreen]

55 killed in Lebanon blitz as foreigners flee

19/07/2006 12h59


Smoke rises following an Israeli air
raid in the village of Nabi Sheet
©AFP - Ahmad Shalha

BEIRUT (AFP) - At least 55 civilians were killed as Israeli jets and gunboats pummelled towns and villages across Lebanon and tens of thousands of people fled a conflict that both sides defiantly warned would have no limit.

In the bloodiest day since the fighting erupted eight days ago, two Israeli soldiers were also reported killed in clashes with guerrillas from the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement as another volley of rockets fell on northern Israel.

Streams of Lebanese were fleeing their homes to find safe havens and thousands of foreigners, mainly Westerners, were being evacuated by sea from Beirut to the neighbouring Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe, with 500,000 people displaced by the Israeli onslaught and the air and sea blockade and at least 310 people killed in Lebanon alone since last Wednesday.

http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060719125155.b94wsp5u.html

[jonnyblitz]

1. thanks for posting!

:kick:

[IndianaGreen]

2. We have weeks of this "shit," as Bush would say

with no incentive for the US to permit the UN to pass a ceasefire resolution, and with Congress falling all over themselves to pass prowar resolutions before the November elections.

How many refugees will there be two weeks from today? How many dead? How many wounded? How many orphans?

I hate war!

[nerovitch]

3. I dont trust the casualties numbers.

The casualties are very suspicious. All civilians and very few soldiers, I doubt their accuracy. Sometimes civilian casualties are used as propaganda tool!

[IndianaGreen]

4. Who is Israel targeting? Answer: hospitals, fleeing civilians...

Considering who Israel is dropping bombs on, I think the casualty numbers are probably conservative.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Dozens more die as air strikes continue (The Guardian)

I dont trust the casualties numbers.
Posted by nerovitch
The casualties are very suspicious. All civilians and very few soldiers, I doubt their accuracy. Sometimes civilian casualties are used as propaganda tool!

Brothers Nabil Alaa al-Din, (from left), Ramzi , and Ali, taken to hospital after
an Israeli missile attack in the southern village of Srifa, Lebanon.
Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

Dozens more die as air strikes continue

Staff and agencies
Wednesday July 19, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

Dozens of people were killed today as Israel broadened its military offensive in Lebanon and launched raids into the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

At least 41 civilians died in air strikes on Lebanon, two Israelis were killed in a Hizbullah rocket strike on Nazareth and nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli military operations.

In the southern Lebanese village of Srifa, where at least 12 died in an Israeli air strike, the mayor told al-Arabiya a "massacre" had taken place. "There are dozens dead and massive destruction," he said. "Emergency services are putting out fires, they cannot reach the houses to recover bodies."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1824039,00.html

[IndianaGreen]

6. Israeli jets hit central Beirut (Al-Jazeera)

Israeli jets hit central Beirut

Wednesday 19 July 2006, 17:30 Makka Time, 14:30 GMT

Aljazeera's correspondent, Katia Nasir, reported that air raids had killed more than 55 people and destroyed much in the south during the day.

The fighting has killed about 295 people in Lebanon and 25 Israelis, mostly civilians.

In al-Srifa, at least 15 houses were completely demolished, the head of al-Srifa town municipality told Aljazeera.

News reports said at least 12 villagers, including several children, were killed and 30 wounded.

Afif Najdi, the mayor, said there had been a "massacre committed in Srifa".

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/563D1044-AB85-4A30-82B4-77A00ADBB316.htm

[bemildred]

7. They actually called it a "blitz"?

So much for not making Nazi comparisons.

[IndianaGreen]

8. CNN's Wolf Blitzer also referred to it as a blitzkrieg today

and it is a proper term to apply to the Lebanon War, together with genocide and ethnic cleansing.